By Abdul Hakim-Shabazz IndyPoltics.Org If you haven’t paying much attention to the Republican race for State Treasurer, don’t feel bad. I have and one of the candidates has some major issues. I am talking about Don Bates, Jr. He has some serious issues and for some reason thinks blaming the media will make them go […]

By Abdul Hakim-Shabazz IndyPoltics.Org The Free Market and Free Speech I have always believed that sometimes the free market is the best answer for society’s ills. Yes, you do occasionally need government to step in and correct bad behavior, but often it’s the free market that can do it much quicker. If you need an example, […]

By Abdul Hakim-Shabazz IndyPoltics.Org I took the title of this column from the name of a book written by Yale Law Professor Stephen L. Carter. It was published in 1992, during my last year as an undergraduate at Northern Illinois University. In it he talks about being the beneficiary of affirmative action, but also being […]

By Abdul Hakim-Shabazz IndyPoltics.Org Well, the April 15 dreaded deadline has come and gone. The Lovely Mrs. Shabazz and I have written our checks to the federal government and various states that tell us we owe them money for our portion of the government. And once again it’s time for me to reflect on that […]

By Abdul Hakim-Shabazz IndyPoltics.Org With the May primary being about a month away, a few things popped on my radar screen to make me think that it’s probably time for Indiana to change the way it conducts primaries. No I take that back, it’s time to eliminate taxpayer-funded primaries. I reached this conclusion after doing […]

By Abdul Hakim-Shabazz IndyPoltics.Org As I sit down and write this column, I am at my kitchen table with my coffee and newspaper in front of me. However, the newspaper is not the Indy Star but the Springfield State-Journal Register and the kitchen is in my other home more than 200 miles away from […]

By Abdul Hakim-Shabazz IndyPoltics.Org In the past week I have had to deal with stories where a north central Indiana Tea Party “leader” used a tamale reference with regards to a Hispanic State lawmaker. A white Indianapolis restaurant owner dresses in blackface as part of New Orleans-themed Fat Tuesday celebration. And in Bedford at a […]

By Abdul Hakim-Shabazz IndyPoltics.Org A week or so ago, Republican State Sen. Mike Delph of Carmel talked about his “tweet heard around the world.” He sent out a Twitter message that there were not enough votes in the Senate caucus to restore the second sentence banning civil unions into HJR-3, the marriage amendment. Delph had […]

By Abdul Hakim-Shabazz IndyPoltics.Org I have to give it to Indiana lawmakers. Just when I think they are about to do something that is not only silly, but politically short-sighted, they pull themselves back from the brink. In this case, it was the marriage amendment. You know what I mean. The Senate voted Monday 32-17 […]

By Abdul Hakim-Shabazz IndyPoltics.Org As Indiana lawmakers try to figure out what to do about the reduction/phase out/elimination of the business personal property tax (BPPT), I figured the least I could do is offer 150 of my closest friends and acquaintances a little assistance in reaching a solution. As someone who philosophically likes cutting taxes, […]